


Rise (Rodney Remix)

by nagi_schwarz



Series: Read My Lips [30]
Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-22
Updated: 2016-03-22
Packaged: 2018-05-28 08:18:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 879
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6321958
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nagi_schwarz/pseuds/nagi_schwarz
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A remix of Rise from Rodney's POV.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Rise (Rodney Remix)

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Rise](https://archiveofourown.org/works/6293353) by [nagi_schwarz](https://archiveofourown.org/users/nagi_schwarz/pseuds/nagi_schwarz). 



> Some dialogue taken straight from The Eye.

Rodney’s hands flew over the console. It wasn’t going to work. It wasn’t. There wasn’t enough power from the lightning.  
  
“Engage the shields,” Kolya said.  
  
“I’m almost finished.” Rodney scanned the displays, hoping, praying for a miracle.  
  
At the other console, Ladon swore. “A massive wave is approaching from the west. Without the shields -”  
  
“McKay!” Kolya barked.  
  
Rodney watched the energy levels on the screen. “Running powers to the corridor - now!”  
  
Nothing happened.  
  
He tapped the controls again. “Now!”  
  
Atlantis’s response was another anemic beep.  
  
Rodney tried again. “Now!”  
  
Elizabeth peered over his shoulder. Kolya started toward him.  
  
“Okay, this is a problem.” Rodney’s mind spun.  
  
“What?” Kolya asked, dark eyes intense.  
  
Rodney resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Life in danger, here. “I told you this was a long shot from the beginning.” He prayed Lorne was all right. If Lorne was all right, John had to be. Lorne’s first priority was to protect John. Lorne had probably stashed John somewhere safe before he proceeded to go all _Die Hard_ on the Genii soldiers. The Genii didn’t even care about John. They probably hadn’t bothered to look for him.  
  
“We already have serious flooding on the north and west piers,” Ladon said, and he was pointless. Nothing he said helped. Some scientist he was.  
  
Rodney shook his head, scanning the power grid display once more. “It’s no use. The city conduits just can’t handle this kind of raw power.”  
  
Elizabeth leaned in closer. “Is any power getting to the shield generator?”  
  
“Nominal amounts. Nowhere near enough.”  
  
“You said this would work,” Kolya said.  
  
Rodney met his gaze. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed this, but I’m an extremely arrogant man who tends to think all of his plans will work.” If he was about to die, he could afford to be brutally honest about his flaws.  
  
He still wasn’t expecting to be backhanded across the face like a petulant child. Elizabeth caught him, steadied him.  
  
Kolya spun away, fury limning his every motion.  
  
“This was a long-shot at best,” Elizabeth snapped. “Why else would we evacuate the city? It was always our intention to dial out in case this didn’t work. Within minutes Atlantis will fail. You can leave and survive, or you can go down with the city.”  
  
It was an ultimatum. Rodney knew what he’d have to do. Go down with the city. And with it Lorne and Elizabeth and all the Genii.  
  
And John.  
  
He couldn’t hear a thing. He wouldn’t understand what was happening. Except he could probably feel Atlantis freaking out.  
  
If he wasn’t already dead from the conduits in the corridors.  
  
Rodney closed his eyes.  
  
“You choose,” Elizabeth spat, and in that moment, Rodney loved her, just a little bit, because she was braver than he could have ever been.  
  
The console beeped. Rodney opened his eyes and checked it. Elizabeth glanced at him. He shook his head again.  
  
“We’re just not getting enough power to the shield generators.”  
  
Elizabeth caught Kolya’s gaze and held it. “Are you really going to sacrifice the lives of all of your men on the off-chance that the city won’t be completely destroyed?”  
  
There was a grim pause, and then Kolya said to his men, “Open the Stargate. Start evacuating the remaining men.”  
  
Rodney felt some of the tension ease out of him.  
  
Elizabeth lifted her chin. “You’re making the right decision.”  
  
Kolya said, “You’re coming with us.”  
  
Rodney blinked. “What?”  
  
Kolya sneered. “You’ll both serve the Genii for what you’ve done.” He signaled the soldiers. Ladon dialed up the gate. The soldiers started herding Rodney and Elizabeth down toward the gate.  
  
Rodney protested. “Seriously, this is a bad idea. You saw what happened to my last plan -”  
  
Gunfire exploded across the gate room.

Lorne, Teyla, Teldy, Ford, and Carson burst into the gate room, guns blazing.  
  
Elizabeth lunged, escaped the grasp of her captor, and made it behind Lorne and the others. Rodney tried to follow. An arm snaked across his throat and wrenched him back against a hard body.  
  
“You’re not going anywhere,” Lorne said. “I will shoot if you don’t let him go.”  
  
Rodney heard the soft sound of people stepping through the Stargate. The Genii soldiers were escaping.  
  
“And risk hurting Dr. McKay?” Kolya asked.  
  
Lorne hesitated.  
  
There was a gunshot, and Kolya staggered. Rodney felt something wet and sticky against his side. Kolya’s grip on him loosened, and Rodney wrenched himself free, staggered toward Lorne. Lorne’s eyes were wide with surprise. Rodney turned and saw - John.  
  
In perfect marksman stance, beneath the stairs, holding a pistol.  
  
“Ma’am, are you all right?” Lorne asked Elizabeth.  
  
“What about the shields?” Teldy asked.  
  
Rodney stared at John, uncomprehending.  
  
“Rodney,” Elizabeth called. “The shields!”  
  
And then John grabbed Rodney’s hand, and together they ran for the control tower. Rodney threw himself at the control panel, hands flying once more, like he was crashing through a Rachmaninov piece, and it wasn’t going to work, he wasn’t fast enough -  
  
The panel lit up.  
  
Rodney yanked his hands back, confused.  
  
He hadn’t done that.  
  
Beside him, John had his head tipped back and his eyes shut. He was still, serene, the eye of his own storm.  
  
Around the city, the shields began to rise.  
  
And John fainted.


End file.
